When EVERYTHING goes wrong

 You couldn't make it up, the week poor Tam has just had to endure.  I will start at the beginning.  Last week Jon was ill with a really high temperature and in bed asleep all day on Thursday.  Temperature better the next day, when I was over.  I stayed half the day and looked after Rosie and he came down mid-afternoon and sat with her.  Tam's car had shown brake problems first thing so she had to use Jon's car, and hers was towed away to the garage, but wouldn't be seen until the following Wednesday as they were so busy.  J still unwell Saturday, when Tam could feel herself coming down with it, and Rosie had something too, but neither had the high temp.  Sunday Jon had to go into work as they were short-staffed, but was talking all day and his throat was awful.  

Last week they had builders in where Tam works, but they seem to have been remarkably cack-handed and water started coming through the ceilings into the archive rooms.  Only Tam and a.n.other in so they had to remove boxes of documents, and this happened on Monday and Tuesday too - she was feeling really rough but spent two days moving boxes and then bundles of documents.  The boxes were not light.  With her long-standing health problem and broken nights, you will realize she was running on empty.  On Monday, Jon's car broke down when she reached the child-minders, where it still is as they didn't have the documents for it as it's still in Jon's mum's name (it was her car) and she's in Spain. Tam had to rely on friends and work colleagues to provide transport.

Tuesday night Jon was very ill, hadn't been able to swallow much and then nothing at all, could barely speak and throat very swollen.  I was concerned and told her to phone 111 and asked if she had a straw in the house.

So, poor Tam stuck there with no transport. At 10.30 p.m. OOH Doc said for J to go in, pronto, and they had to spend £34 they could ill afford on a taxi to get him to Aber hospital.  He has Laryngitis very badly, and was given antibiotics, steroids and a throat spray.  Then, the neighbour who said he would go and pick him up, fell asleep and couldn't be contacted, and Jon watched it start to pour with rain as he waited for his prescription to be filled.  Tam phoned taxi company after taxi company until she finally got one who would drop Jon off at his mum's as he was going home for the night.  It was around 2 a.m. at this point.

Tam was meant to phone the OOH GP if there was any change for the worse, but of course didn't know what the state of play was as Jon wasn't there but in Aber and she spent what remained of the night worrying if Jon was still alive every time that Rosie woke her - which was often as SHE had very bad localised infection they thought was fungal, but cream didn't work after two days. (Think localised nappy rash).  Oh and she's cutting her last molars too.

So, Jen to the rescue yesterday as no way could Tam get Rosie to the GP in town (only 3 buses a day and she had to wait until the Receptionist phoned back and told her if she had an appt. in the afternoon).  No way to get Jon home as friend working. Tam was absolutely wiped out.  I took her a patisserie fruit pie (she asked for one but I was going to take her one anyway), and I knew she hadn't been able to afford wine that week so took her a bottle, and a couple of my little cucumbers.  She was SO glad to see me.  Just to have someone to share the worry with - and the washing up!  It took me over an hour of solidly washing up, drying and stacking as she hadn't been able to tackle it for days.  I peeled and chopped the spuds for the Cottage Pie she was planning for tea.  I have my uses!  Then I took them in to the GP's, we liaised with Jon, went to pick up her car which had been fixed two days earlier but they had the wrong phone number for her!  

I finally got home just after 7 and the cats were very pleased to see me.  I too had wine last night - reckoned I had earned it!  I watched the Great Pottery Showdown and in the car, podcasts were the 100 years war again, which I really enjoyed as there is such a camaraderie between Tom and Dom and plenty of laughter - the thought of the Welsh longbowmen shedding their trousers because they had been standing around so long and needed to poo where they stood!!!  Then going into battle thus unclad!

So, a week from hell that you couldn't make up.  Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, but hopefully that is behind them now and that Jon's car can be recovered soon and the bill not too much. 

Today I have a walk planned, some gardening and packing some of the boxes for Saturday's Fair, and then some patchwork after lunch. 

Ta-dah moment

 

The tiny teddy chair was such a mess- dull grey flaking paint - that I decided to rub it down and paint it today.  It was almost the last of the Johnson's French Chiffon paint so I will have to buy another can, as it is quick drying and has no aroma.

This is how it looked before - grubby and unappealing.  

I also sewed more of my first bathroom curtain, and that is looking good.  You can see the colours more clearly in this photo than the one I took the other day.

I got out for a walk earlier on.  As you can see it was quite misty.  I went up the steep hill, to try and improve my peak flow, which has dropped because of not being able to walk much this summer.

The eye drops are helping my eye but I want to see the pit which held the stye disappear completely.  It's not as sore looking as it was anyway.

I was out of bread today, so made a tasty loaf 1/2 and 1/2 with the Cotswold Crunch granary type flour.

So, not a great deal happening.  I picked some of the apples from the orchard - the birds are having a good time out there and lots pecked at.  I picked the cucumbers too and will empty the pots tomorrow as everything has died back in the polytunnel.

Off to watch another episode of Apocalypse now (Channel 4).  I am enjoying that.

Today's podcasts on Henry V, and the Hundred Years War - a different version to the 4 Hundred Years War podcasts I listened to a couple of weeks ago.  

Treat Day . . .

 

This was my special Brunch today.  There must be a Blue Moon tonight because that is the only time I have one of these pattiserie fruit pies.  Scrummy!

I phoned the Doctors' surgery first thing and got an appointment to have my eye checked.  She gave me a prescription for antibiotic drops, 4 times a day for 5 days.  My eye feels a little easier already and the discomfort in my tear duct and top of ??sinuses, has gone. She said it didn't present as an SCC so I think my appt. at the local Minor Injuries next week may be a waste of their time, but I will know for sure.

I remembered to roast my chicken today and really enjoyed my meal, especially the roasties which I haven't had more than once since Christmas!

A cheat's chicken gravy made at the last minute, with some Chicken gravy thickener and boiling water.  This was a big meal for me!

This is a little cushion for the tiny teddy chair I bought recently.  I have decided the ancient grey paint shabby chic look is not doing it any favours, so I will paint it white tomorrow to cheer it up a bit.  These were all (apart from the central square) little bits of Liberty fabrics I bought a bag of at Malvern last year.  They were lovely to work with.

I have been cutting fabrics for the curtains too, and unpicking the deep blue from the blocks for Rosie's quilt, and have replaced it on two with the mid blue I got at Calico Kate's.  Off to unpick the others now.

Today's podcast was about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, and on Saturday I had epic listenings about King Arthur and Tintagel; Stonehenge, ancient ritual an the origins of paganism; and a.n.other.

St Thomas' Church, St Dogmaels and the Sagranus Stone

 

I have to say the attitude of this ancient stone has not improved since I last visited, and it has a distinctly unpleasant vibe.  We were last there in 2018. 

A 9th - 10th C cross stem.

A lightly engraved Maltese Cross design on this early Christian monument, which dates back to 9th - 10th C.

Nearly all the memorials to local men (mariners) in the church, attested death by drowning . . .  They sailed very dangerous seas.  Cardigan was once an incredibly busy port. 

Pensacola is in Florida.

 

One of the many headstones outside testifying more mariner deaths at sea.  

Someone was a dab hand with this patchwork wallhanging of the Three Wise Men.

A general view of the church interior.

A beautiful painted Reredos above the alter.

A more modern take on Biblical stories in this stained glass window.

Finally, the font.

Outside are the remains of St Dogmael's Abbey, which must have been stunning before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  Henry VIII had a lot to answer for.

Our kids used to love wobbling along the top of these walls.

Here you go, Sue in Suffolk.  The lovely old Mill.  Rose has had a good pruning though.

This was taken in 2014.

That teeny tiny window on the cottage beside the Mill.

And again, in 2014 . . .

I hope you have had a pleasant weekend.

A really lovely day out and a trip to Calico Kate's

 

This was last night's sunset.  I walked along our track to take photos as it was just too good to miss.  It foretold a sunny day today so I decided I would have my Day Out and make the most of the late September sunshine.

I wasn't sure where to go.  Ludlow I thought, and as I had suggested to Pam she might come along, that would satisfy her wanting to see arounda castle that wasn't a total ruin.  I also considered going further than that to Much Wenlock which is a truly beautiful Medieval town with a 12th C Cluniac Priory.  Or else perhaps in a similar area but a little lower down, I could revisit Wightwick Manor, which Keith and I absolutely adored when we went there 8 years or so ago.  It was my special birthday outing.  Then I started doing sums, and knowing that I had to go and pay the rent at the Unit and hand my notice in, it made sense to have my day out on the back of that and go on to St Dogmael's Abbey and revisit the Early Christian Monuments there.  In the event Pam was working and then going out in her garden.  So I was free to do what I wanted.

I stopped in Carmarthen for a picnic lunch, remembered to buy Curry powder but forgot washing up liquid!  Then on to St Dogmael's, which is by Cardigan.

There will be more photos from the church and Abbey ruins tomorrow.  I came home via Calico Kate's in Lampeter . Hoping to vaguely match the blue print in the Round the World quilt, but no chance.  I brought a pretty blue print anyway which is nearly the same colour and will incorporate this in closer to the original quilt square.

The pink prints I just couldn't resist, and the dark ones will tie in nicely in the bathroom curtains I'm making.

As you can see, many many fabrics (this is just a fraction of the display in a dozen or more rooms). 

Quilting ideas as well.  The one above in Christmas fabrics would make a super Christmas table runner.